1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to exercise apparatus and more particularly to an exercise apparatus that is adapted to simulate cross-country skiing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While many types of devices and apparatus have been developed and used through the years for assisting an individual in obtaining desired exercise and particularly cardiovascular exercise, it has only been in recent years that the importance of such exercise has been fully appreciated. As a result, numerous types of equipment have been developed to exercise various parts of the body. In some cases, the equipment is designed to develop muscular strength, but in other types of equipment, the goal is directed more to cardiovascular benefits, and such exercise equipment is commonly referred to as aerobic exercise equipment.
Most exercise specialists acknowledge that cross-country skiing is one of the best forms of aerobic exercise in that both the arms and the legs are utilized, thereby more quickly obtaining an elevated heart rate while obtaining and maintaining good muscle tone throughout the body. For this reason, many types of equipment have been developed in an attempt to simulate cross-country skiing so that cross-country skiing movements can be performed in an indoor environment.
There have been numerous cross-country ski simulating devices developed for indoor use such as, for example, those illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,077 to Stropkay and U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,981 to Norton. The devices disclosed in these two patents include a pair of foot support platforms adapted to guide the feet in a linear reciprocatory manner while independent hand manipulated means are provided for simulating movement of ski poles. In each device, however, there is no operative connection between the foot and hand movements, and for that reason, the devices have proven difficult to use. Due to the difficulty of coordinating the hand and foot movements, individuals will spend hours, and sometimes days, trying to learn how to use such an apparatus, and in many cases where the apparatus is located in a public exercise facility, the embarrassment will prevent an individual from continuing to use the apparatus.
To avoid the shortcomings of the apparatus disclosed in the Stropkay and Norton patents, cross-country ski exercise devices have been developed wherein the movements of the feet and arms are coordinated by mechanical linkage so that as one foot moves rearwardly the associated hand moves forwardly. In fact, in some of these devices, foot supporting platforms themselves are mechanically linked so that as one foot moves rearwardly the other foot moves forwardly. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,786 issued to Rogers and Canadian Patent No. 490,720 issued to Denison. While the devices disclosed in these patents overcome the coordination problems inherent in the patents to Stropkay and Norton, it will be appreciated that the exercise motion provided by a device wherein the arms and legs are operatively interconnected for simultaneous movement at equivalent speeds, which is biochemically incorrect and awkward, will create a very jerky motion which is not necessarily enjoyable and is difficult to maintain over a long period of time. Further, the jerking movement might cause physiological damage which is not caused by the smooth fluid motion obtained in natural cross-country skiing.
It was to overcome some of the shortcomings in the aforenoted prior art that the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,276 issued to Feuer et al. was developed. The Feuer patent is of common ownership with the present application. The Feuer apparatus includes means for allowing hand engaging members to move twice as fast a foot engaging supports so that relative movement between the hand engaging members and the foot engaging supports more closely resembles actual cross-country skiing.
As will be appreciated from a review of the prior art, it can be seen that, in order to desirably simulate cross-country skiing, a fairly complex system needs to be employed which can include numerous gears, cables, fly wheels and the like. Some systems are so complex they are readily amenable to breakage or malfunction. Further, some systems have so many interconnected gears or the like that the internal resistance to operation renders them difficult to operate in a manner that provides merely light exercise.
It is to overcome the shortcomings in the prior art devices and to produce a device that closely resembles cross-country skiing that the present invention has been developed.